ABSTRACT
The process of female reproductive aging in mammalian organisms is unique, very different from aging of nonreproductive tissues and the organism as a whole. Normal aging generally involves accumulation processes: the accumulation of random damage to macromolecular components, DNA, proteins, and lipids and the accumulation of cells within tissues with increasing age. This damage occurs at different rates in different tissues and leads to increased susceptibility to disease and increasing organ dysfunction. In contrast, the female reproductive aging process begins with a full complement of germ cell (oocyte)-containing ovarian follicles around the time of birth. Female reproductive aging is characterized by a steady, inexorable decline in those follicle numbers with increasing age, independent of the fertility or reproductive cycle (e.g., estrus and menstrual) history of the female, until follicles are depleted or nearly depleted.
